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Vexxed
    Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
    August 2012

    “ V exx , I need you and Byrn to put in some undercover time at that new BDSM club outside of town,” Jack Weaver said. “It’s called ‘Carnival.’ I got a lead on the Fyre Elemental we’re looking for, and word is, the dude spends a lot of time there.”
    The code on the computer monitor blurred. Vexx shook herself out of her zero- and one-filled reverie. One of her fat pink and black pigtails lashed her cornea as she whirled to face Jack and Byrn. “Wait, what?”
    Byrn’s tawny tiger eyes widened, along with his pearly tiger grin, and his broad, rolling tiger shoulders. “Oh, fuck, yes. I call top!”
    From his relaxed sprawl on the hotel room couch cushions, Jack swallowed a couple gulps of beer, then wiped his gray beard and mustache with the back of a tanned, veiny hand. Grip loose on the bottle, he pointed an index finger Byrn’s way. “Byrn gets bottom.”
    The brawny Fyre Elemental hunched his shoulders and poked out his bottom lip. “Why does she get to have all the fun?” He thrust his red-stubbled chin in Vexx’s direction, crossed his arms, and tucked balled fists under his armpits. The sun haloed his body through the frame of the window behind him. Reminded Vexx of Apollo.
    Topsies at a BDSM club with Byrn as her sub? She mentally giggled like a schoolgirl at the thought of turning the Elemental tables on him. And of tying up all that yummy … Fire.
    “You know you’re a bottom underneath your big bad Fyre package, and you secretly can’t wait to see what I’m gonna do to you.” Her bubblegum snapped in quick succession between clenched teeth.
    Byrn lowered his arms and swaggered over to her. He stopped close enough for her to count the whiskers on his ruddy cheeks. Vexx hated when he invaded her space like this. For a lot of reasons. Heat eased off him, slowly dancing Elemental flames, licking her Air with a venomous snake’s forked tongue.
    Instinct told her to get away before she got burned, but she stood her ground and popped off another round of gunshot bubbles inches from the lips suspended over hers. So damn kissable …
    Stop it.
    His blondish hair shifted as he tilted his head to his left. Byrn was still a young Fyre, so he didn’t have much red yet—just a few streaks through his hard-cut bob. The lack of red kept him from standing out too much. Well, it would have if he could rein in his personality. As it was—
    He was staring at her.
    His stunning half-grin lit up her insides. A breath of her Air burned away, taking her wits with it. Why’d she have to be attracted to him ? A Wæter Elemental like Xanthos would’ve been a much safer choice. But Byrn’s Fire … did things to her.
    “Bottom or top, I do what I have to,” Byrn said. “You, on the other hand, like being in control a little too much. Or more accurately, you don’t like losing control.”
    Maybe he was right.
    “You’re a man-whore, Byrn.” She flapped her thick, fake lashes at him.
    His hand hovered next to her cheek but didn’t touch. Vexx’s heart responded with a full-on sprint. His Fire pulsed. Beyond dangerous. Deadly. Despite the menace, she leaned a fraction of an inch closer to get a breath of his spicy scent.
    “That’s the best comeback you got? I love scrambling your brain, Vexx.” Mocking laughter roared out of him as he ambled away.
    Feeling her irises yellowing on release from the addictive thrall of his Fire, Vexx puckered up, kissed the air, and blew. A gust of wind rushed him and tangled his hair into a strawberry blond nest. His back muscles tensed through the tight black T-shirt, and he turned to her slowly, his face angled with harsh lines.
    “Children.” Jack’s “daddy” voice cut the tension between them, but not by much.
    Byrn’s eyes glowed dull red. “You know, Charlie, your angels might actually behave if you paired them up a little better.”
    Vexx sidled next to Jack on the couch and wove her arm through